LoveLove In Action (LIA)

Whether you have a felt sense of our interconnectedness
through an STE or through study and meditation, once you have the
awareness that we are all one, the next step is to live from
that knowing. As you go about daily life, keeping that
awareness foremost in your mind transforms how you live.
Participation in community activity is another way in which
people might first feel a sense of interconnectedness and
experience the effects of universal love.

Universal love becomes a way of life. />
Relationships are the training field in living from universal love.
Love in action involves not only our personal relationships, but also our communities.

Love In Action (LIA) programs of Eternea include all types of
projects being designed and carried out by communities of people who are
bringing more love locally. LIA’s web page and message board will
be places to discover others like yourself in your community who want to
support each other as they develop local projects that enhance an
awareness of Oneness.

Once we feel Oneness and Universal Love in every
cell of our bodies,
what are we going to do with that feeling?

LIA now hosts a forum for discussion about existing
programs and programs we can create together that demonstrate "love in
action." This forum
is intended to be practical and helpful. Please feel free to
share a couple of examples of projects that are bringing people together
in creative ways. You can visit the forum by
clicking here. If you want to tell everyone about programs in
your local community that exemplify love in action, please tell us via
the link below and we will add more to this page.

Recent Examples Sent to Love In Action

Joan's Monarch Wishes

Kathy, an oncology Physician Assistant, wrote about Joan's Monarch
Wishes, an initiative organized by a woman who lost her mother to
cancer. The organization collects the names of cancer patients who would
like to receive cards and then volunteers send cards out to people they
choose from the list. Volunteers and names of people with cancer
come from all over the country.

Homeless in Savannah, GA

After retiring from careers as a senior manager and an organizational
development professional, Mary Ellen and her husband are using their
professional skills to help the homeless in Savannah, GA by teaching
workshops that assist in removing the blocks that keep us from
self-acceptance. They provide their own materials and build their
workshops from scratch at no cost to anyone.

A Virtual Group

After going to the Eternea website and reading about Love in Action,
Margaret initiated a virtual group
on her blog site.
People who want to join are committing to conduct a Random Act of
Kindness at a regular interval, and come back and share their
experiences.

Service and Leadership for Youth

James has developed trainings in service and leadership for youth
from 4th grade through high school. The focus is on “Small Acts of
Kindness” and service to the school and community, thereby teaching love
in its most direct way—through experience.

James shared links to two touching examples of actions generated by
youth that are all about being love in the world:

Pets of the Homeless

Tina wrote in about “Pets of the Homeless,” a nonprofit volunteer
organization that provides pet food and veterinary care to the pets of
the homeless and less fortunate in local communities across the United
States and Canada. Volunteers are the backbone of this incredible
outreach and their efforts have touched the lives of countless animals.
Grants are used to fund veterinarians that go to where the homeless
congregate and provide veterinary care such as vaccines, spay/neuter and
other needed treatments. Grants are also awarded to homeless shelters
looking for ways that allow pets sanctuary with their owners. Finally,
grants are awarded to individuals on a case-by-case basis, depending on
urgency, long-term health success and financial support.

The Common Reading Experience (Durango, Colorado)

The Common Reading Experience began in Durango seven years ago as a
project to involve and invite the entire community to read a single book
each year. Now, reading their seventh book together, community members
along with students and faculty from Fort Lewis College gather in a
variety of venues around the community to discuss subjects in each book
and bring the books to life.

When reading Folding Paper Cranes by Fort Lewis College
professor Leonard Bird about his experiences in the aftermath of
Hiroshima, students in the Durango public school system folded paper
cranes for peace, just like Japanese students have done.

When reading The Beast in the Garden about mountain lion
encounters with people, as houses encroached on their natural habitat,
the FLC Art Gallery created a display about mountain lions' habitat and
featured artists' renditions of mountain lions.

Similar programs exist in many cities throughout the country. The
books are decided by recommendations from the community and from voting
by interested parties, so of course they vary from place to place. The
Common Reading Experience brings people together from all walks of life
to learn from each other, to share ideas, and to connect.

Pagosa Time Bank, a branch of hOurWorld (Pagosa Springs, Colorado)

The hOurWorld project is located in over 65 cities in the U.S. and
has over 4,000 members. The purpose of the Pagosa Time Bank is to give
neighbors the opportunity to share skill sets with each other on an
hour-by-hour basis. One hour of work exchanges for one hour of work, no
matter what the work being done.

The system honors that each of us have skills in some areas, but not
in others, and that sharing what we know how to do is a way of honoring
the worth and dignity of each of us. It's also a great way to meet
community members outside our usual circle of friends who, let's face
it, tend to be a lot like us. As we come to value their skills, we might
also come to value their opinions even when they differ from ours, and
from that valuing, love is grown.

Creating A Rainbow People

Individuals can use their own talents to create a community project that increases
connection and love in the community and may also relate to communities
far away. We’re all familiar with initiatives to collect supplies
and money for communities hard hit by natural or man-made disasters.
In fact, most Eternea supporters have probably been involved in such
initiatives. Those projects are absolutely wonderful and benefit
not only those people helped by the donations, but also the people
offering the donations whose lives are enhanced by the process.

Another example of using one’s unique talents to create unique
community projects is by fabric quilt artist Allison Goss. In
2002, Allison envisioned Creating a Rainbow People project in Durango,
CO. When the United States invaded Afghanistan after the
tragedy of 911, Allison felt great compassion for the women and children
of Afghanistan who were being greatly harmed as a result of the
invasion. She conceived of the idea of the quilt, made from fabric
painted by members of the community and then woven together in a spiral
design with an eye in the middle and a starry sky background. She
invited several segments of the community and 38 people helped paint
swatches of fabric. She then quilted the beautiful piece of art
shown above.

Allison put the quilt up for silent auction, and the money raised was
sent to the women of Afghanistan. In this way, the Durango
community was able to weave a connection with women in Afghanistan,
sharing love and support abroad while empowering the Durango community
to connect with one another.

Looking at the quilt, one sees the weaving together of each person’s
individual potential to create a whole, supported by God (the eye) and
nature (the starry sky.) Creating a Rainbow People demonstrates
how love and individual contributions can create a magnificent whole
that is greater than any one of us could do on our own. To see
more of Allison’s creations, go to
www.allisongoss.com.

Dream Helper Ceremony

Love in Action can have impact within a small community of people by
increasing people’s experience of similarity and connection. One
example of this is a Dream Helper Ceremony.

Created by Dr. Van de Castle and described in
the Intuitive Heart, this process involves a group of people
who are willing to help each other solve problems through dreams.
At least two people volunteer to work on undisclosed personal issues.
They put their names in a box, then “the group blesses the synchronicity
of the draw, so that who will best be helped by this process will be the
one chosen.”

Everyone in the group then dreams on behalf of the chosen person,
without knowing the specific issue that person is working on. Each
member of the group remembers their dream from that night, writes it
down, and then shares their dream at the next gathering of the group.
After all of the dreams have been told, the focus person shares the
nature of their issue and how the dreams have had an impact on their
resolution. As a final step, each member of the group then shares
how the dream related to their own lives as well.

In studies using this method, people have been surprised at the
common themes that run through the dreams, about how helpful they are to
the focus person, and how important the dreams are to their own growth.
It is one more way to recognize how connected we all are.

Locks of Love

“Locks of Love” is a non-profit organization that accepts donations of long hair for the creation of wigs for people with cancer.
In one small town, an 8-year old girl donated her long braids for other children who needed wigs after chemotherapy.
She is chronically ill and said she wanted to support other children who were also struggling with severe illnesses.
Can you imagine feeling the support of a total stranger who has donated their hair to create a wig for a time of need?
If you would like to donate your long hair, please go to
Locks of Love

Rick Hanson

Rick Hanson, PhD is a neuroscientist who has studied the compassionate brain for years. He has a free newsletter that introduces you
to 52 favorite practices (“Just One Thing”) that help to develop a neural network with a deep well-being and resilience,
which incidentally is also a compassionate network. If you would like to be a part of the weekly newsletter, go to
Rick Hanson

Missouri Prison System

The Missouri prison system has developed individualized treatment plans for juvenile offenders that result in their ability
to express emotions, resolve conflicts, understand the effects of their behavior on others and transition to responsible
citizenship prior to their release. It is less expensive than conventional treatment (New York spends four times as much per
day on their youth) and has a recidivism rate of 8%. (New York’s rate is 89 %.) Missouri has been so successful that California,
New Mexico, and Louisiana are following suit. These youth have been treated with compassion and, as a result,
have gone on to lead more compassionate lives.

~~~~~~~~~~

These and other projects urge us to "think out of the box" about how
our measure of love can be put into action. Joining our efforts with
others in community together, we can know others more deeply and as
equals in our yearning for meaning and love in our lives.

Once you feel Oneness and Universal Love in
every cell of your body,
what are you going to do with that feeling?